East Stoke - first village to be awarded a ‘Safer Village’ mark
22 February 2012
EFFORTS to make a village the first crime-free place in Notts have been branded a success, despite offences still taking place.
East Stoke has become the first area in the country to be awarded a Safer Village mark.
It comes a year after £50,000 was spent on a series of security measures, including burglar alarms for residents and CCTV cameras.
But since then, lead has been stolen from the village church roof, fly-tipping has taken place and villagers say some farm equipment has been stolen.
Despite this Sid Davies, chairman of the village's neighbourhood watch, said: "We feel it has been a great success. We have helped to make people feel much safer where they live."
He said the number of incidents reported to police in the last year had actually increased by around 100%, and was between 20 to 30, but said this was down to it being easier to detect things.
The Safer Village mark, which is backed by the Association of Chief Police Officers, follows the installation of 15 CCTV cameras around the village, three of which had automatic number-plate recognition technology, and new burglar alarms and door and window locks in about 40 of the village's 53 homes.
It has led to the village being given a plaque and a £1,000 reward, which will be spent on maintaining the security systems.
Mr Davies said they hoped to slash crime as far as possible, though admitted cutting it altogether would be tough.
He said: "What has happened is that when the odd crime has been committed, the police are able to access the CCTV images to help with their detection work."
The security measures came about after a spate of burglaries and fly-tipping.
Villager Glennis Howard, 71, said she did feel safer.
She said: "It helps you feel safer when you have new burglar alarms and knowing that CCTV cameras are watching out for you.
"Some crimes do still happen, like farm machinery being stolen, but overall it's a good place to be."
Police community support officer Michael Munro said: "Getting this reward is great for the village. It is a real bonus for people who live here to have all of this security."
Councillor Sue Saddington, whose ward includes East Stoke, said the dualling of the A46 would make the security measures even more vital.
She said: "As East Stoke is now much further from the main road, it could be a place for offenders to come to get away. But having all of these cameras should help people feel much safer."
